The District can do more to reinforce the efforts of students on the cusp of succeeding, but more also needs to be done for those at the greatest risk of failing. Performing and Fine Arts education support future careers in graphic arts, culinary arts, fine arts, media, journalism, and related fields, and also support development of critical character assets.
Success within the educational system encourages a child’s development of executive function. Just as directly, failure within the education system undermines a child’s development of executive function. Education specialist Jerome Kagan, Ph.D. notes, “an excellent predictor of juvenile crime in a town or city is the magnitude of the difference between the top and bottom quartiles [on standardized tests.] Moreover, the size of this difference is also an excellent predictor of the incidence of adult criminality, depression, and addiction to alcohol or drugs.”
The opportunities for success provided by sound arts education programming support the development of executive function in all students. Education Policy analyst Tina Beveridge argues, “If we marginalize all non-tested subjects, we create a system in which only the affluent members of our society have access to the most comprehensive and well-rounded educations, which widens the achievement gap rather than closes it.” When entire classes, and schools, are treated as lesser than other classes, and schools, those students are provided less of a chance to develop their independent will to achieve.
The principles with which the city supports arts education should take into account that the outcomes to measure include not only skills, and higher test scores on other subjects, but dropout rates. Arts education is crucial to our children’s intellectual and social development and should be provided for all students, not just the privileged few. Supporting the Arts in Education is essential to the development of the District's students, citizens, and workforce.
Increase support for Arts in Education programming. Engage with arts stakeholders - including artists, arts organizations, private funders and the DC Commission on the Arts Humanities - to develop efficient and effective programs to provide meaningful arts education opportunties.
Additional Information
From the Arts Education Partnership:
“School administrators report that in schools with powerful arts programs, they see increased student performance as measured by grades, test scores, attendance and retention. Partnerships with community arts organizations and individual artists can engage the expertise of community members in ways that enhance student learning.”
From The Big Bang Theory of Arts Education by Richard Kessler:
“The big bang of arts education occurred in the 70’s, when a combination of a difficult economy, back-to-basics movement, and other assorted and sundry pressures and reforms created a gradual decline in arts education, particularly in the large urban school systems. The big bang led to an expansion in what had been a relatively minor area in the non-profit arts sector: the arts education organization. I guess you can say the arts education organization as we know it was created during this big bang... Add to this the emergence of the teaching artist, and you’ve got quite a different lot today than in 1959. Arts education split into many different pieces, much of which continues to cause great debate among practitioners.”
The Education Commission of the States provides links to arts education reports, interviews with policy makers and school superintendents, an art education policy database and an overview of arts education in Arkansas.
The Center for Arts Education is committed to stimulating and sustaining arts education in New York public schools. The site covers its work and programs supporting arts education, and provides links to arts education resources.
The Dana Foundation offers arts education grants. The site provides profiles of its grantees as well as arts education reports, publications and recommended reading of arts education in the news.
Links to Education and Art is UNESCO’s portal about art education. It discusses the organization’s work in arts education, and provides links to arts education conferences and publications
The Virginia Art Education Association, a membership organization, aims to advance visual arts education. The site provides information on the group as well as links to arts education resources.
